False Starts
by leoslady4ever
Summary: Lucy is enjoying the party at the guild when she hears something that truly shocks her, something that makes her believe the man she's been crushing on is finally taking notice of her. Now, with Laxus showing interest, she decides it's time to act...


_Not even sure where this came from, but it was fun to write. So, without further ado, here's another LaLu one-shot..._

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**_Hiro Mashima_**_ owns Fairy Tail._

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**~~~~~~~~~~~FALSE STARTS~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Looking hot tonight, Lucy..."

Lucy whipped around, her eyes widened in shock at the words she'd just heard. She'd know that voice anywhere, even in a crowded room in the midst of a party. _Laxus..._

But he was nowhere to be found. She spun in a circle, leaning to peek around the constantly moving bodies near her, but she couldn't find the tall man. It was rather ironic considering his large frame and his tendency to stick out. Still, she saw no sign of him, and feeling vaguely disappointed, she turned back to what she doing.

Minutes later, she was brushing the incident off, chalking it up to her own active imagination, and moving onto the dance floor with Cana. She was certain she had just been hearing things. She'd had a thing for him for quite some time, and more than once, she'd caught herself daydreaming about him expressing an interest in her. So quite frankly, this was just one more to add to the numerous others.

With that settled, she poured herself into the song that played, letting her body move to the beat until she heard it again.

"I could watch you all night..."

Lucy spun around, but once again was met with a view free of Laxus. What the hell was going on? Was she finally losing her mind?

"Lucy, everything okay?" Cana hollered, drawing Lucy from her perusal of the people around her.

The blonde frowned but turned back to her friend. She still found it strange that she was hearing things, but honestly with this many people, it wouldn't be unheard of. There was a good chance she had just mistaken someone else's conversation, so she once again pushed the incident from her mind.

She danced with Cana for several more songs, letting the odd occurrence wash away in the rhythm of the music. Shortly thereafter though, she was beginning to feel parched, and with a quick wave at her slightly drunk pal, she sailed off to the bar. She'd gone no more than halfway when that deep voice called out to her again.

"I think we could be great together..."

Okay, there was no way she had made that up in her head or simply mistaken someone else's voice. That was definitely Laxus, and once more, he had disappeared after he'd dropped another shocking comment. Now that she'd decided definitively that it was in fact the lightning mage she'd been interested in, she didn't really know what to do.

She stood there amidst the other party-goers and wondered why he was doing this. She didn't understand what he was trying to accomplish by saying these things and then leaving. Why not hang around for her response?

Huffing a bit in aggravation, she continued on to the bar and requested one of Mira's fruity concoctions. She'd long ago given up on asking for a specific mixed drink from the white-haired barmaid as the woman was constantly pushing a different one at her to try.

"Here Lucy. Give this one a shot," Mira offered, passing the blonde a glass filled with a light pink liquid. "I think you'll really love it!"

"Would it really matter if I loved it? You know you'll make me something different next time," Lucy joked, reaching for the chilled tumbler.

The white-haired girl pouted at Lucy. "Oh hush, you know you love being my guinea pig."

"Well, it does get me free drinks," Lucy quipped with a wink, bending a bit to rest her elbows on the bar. She certainly loved that particular perk of being Mira's personal taste tester. No worries about spending her hard-earned jewels on alcohol was a very good thing.

Mira stuck her tongue out playfully at the blonde mage, then hearing her name called further down the bar, she uttered a quick goodbye and moved off to help someone else, leaving Lucy to finish her drink alone.

The Celestial Spirit mage leaned on the bar and took another sip of her drink. She had to agree that Mira had made a winner here. It was the perfect combination of sweet fruit juice and alcohol and just as the barmaid had anticipated, would most likely become one of her favorites.

"I've always had a thing for you, Lucy..."

Her glass slammed down on the wooden surface of the bar, and she whirled around. She was annoyed to find that once again, there was no Laxus in sight. This was getting old really quick. If the man would just stay put, she'd tell him to have at it. She'd wanted to get his attention for a long time now and would have no issues being more than friends with him.

Of course, she couldn't do that with him constantly running off like that. And why was he doing something so irritating? He'd always been confident, almost to the point of arrogance. She couldn't have imagined he'd ever be so roundabout in telling her he wanted to date her.

Releasing a low growl of frustration, she scanned the room another time, and shockingly managed to find the lightning mage she'd been looking for. _Finally..._

Her eyes narrowed on him, studying him talking to Bickslow and acting like nothing had happened. Yeah, well that was about to change. Downing the remainder of her drink, she set it down and began moving toward him. It was time to get some answers.

In moments, she was coming up beside him, and as he turned, she marveled at the feigned surprise that crossed his face. Who knew the man was such a fine actor?

Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she arched a brow at him. "We need to talk."

His expression showed confusion, and he grunted, "Huh?"

"Enough with the games, Laxus. If you have something to say to me, then you can just say it to my face."

The tall man glanced over to his friend, then looked down at her, his brow wrinkling. "I'm lost here. What is it I'm supposed to be saying?"

"Really? I come over here to say I feel the same way, and you're going to pretend you don't even know what I'm talking about?" Lucy snipped, propping her hands on her hips.

The blonde-haired man frowned down at her. "Feel the same way? Lucy, what the hell are you talking about?"

His response set Lucy's nerves on edge, and she could feel herself flushing with anger. Was he seriously going to continue this charade? "I don't know what you're up to here, but it's really starting to piss me off. You were just over there hitting on me," she growled, pointing in the general direction of the bar before throwing her hands up and shaking her head. "You know what? If you're going to act like this, then just forget it."

With that, she turned to head back to the bar. She didn't get a single step away when a strong hand closed around her arm and pulled her to a stop. Then Laxus moved into her line of sight, his eyes narrowed. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm telling you...this it the first time I've spoken to you all night. I just got here five minutes ago."

She opened her mouth to yell at him for playing with her when she realized that he truly looked perplexed. But that didn't make sense. It was his voice. She knew it was. "But...it was you. It sounded just like you..." She was so confused.

Suddenly, Laxus' voice sounded from behind her, asking her to go out with him. Lucy's eyes widened, and looking up at Laxus, she could see he too was stunned. Hoping to finally catch the person who'd had her going all night, she spun around and found Natsu and Gray hunched over a small device, both nearly in stitches at their prank.

Lucy stood there in disbelief as the entirety of the situation caught up with her. She had been played by two of her best friends, and she had made a fool of herself to Laxus. _Oh God...Laxus..._

She had all but told the man she wanted to go out with him. Yes, she had been tricked into it, but that didn't change the fact that she had just confessed her feelings, not just to him, but in front of his best friend too. She was well and truly humiliated.

Reality was setting in...Laxus hadn't hit on her, hadn't said a single thing to suggest he was interested in her. Even when she'd said she returned his feelings, he hadn't blinked an eye. He obviously didn't feel the same way about her.

Lucy was beyond mortified, and as the first sting of tears hit her eyes, she knew she needed to leave. She had done enough to make herself look foolish. She wasn't about to add crying to the list. She knew she couldn't stave off the urge for long, so she pressed a hand to her mouth and turned to leave.

Abruptly, Natsu's laughter stopped, his eyes widening as she saw her eyes watering. His elbow quickly drove into the ice mage's side, silencing him, and then moved toward her with an expression of guilt. "Luce..."

Blinking fast, she shook her head at him. "Don't touch me..." she whispered, pulling back from him.

Lucy knew they had only been goofing off. She knew they hadn't meant any harm, but that didn't stop their actions from hurting her. Even now as she reminded herself that they hadn't known about the crush she'd harbored on Laxus, she couldn't find it in her to tell them it was okay. She knew she would forgive them, but right now...it was just too much.

The magnitude of her foul up was washing over her like a tsunami, and she was far too overwhelmed to consider them at the moment. The truth was regardless of their intentions, their prank had reduced her to a pathetic girl in front of the one man she'd only ever wanted to impress.

With a soft sob, she pushed past their outstretched hands and pleading faces and ran from the guild.

The moment she was gone, Gray winced and murmured, "She's really pissed."

"No," Natsu corrected, his eyes staring at the doors of the guild in regret. "She's hurt. We really screwed up this time."

Laxus stood there dumbfounded, his mind struggling to make sense of everything. He still felt vaguely lost about what had happened, and with Lucy gone, there was only one way he'd finally know the whole story. Stomping up to the now lost looking males of Team Natsu, Laxus growled, "Start talking."

The two regretfully spilled the beans on their prank and handed over the small electronic box so he could hear how they had tricked Lucy. The tall blonde man pressed the play button and frowned as his own voice filtered out.

_Looking hot tonight, Lucy..._

_I could watch you all night..._

_I think we could be great together..._

_I've always had a thing for you, Lucy..._

_How about I take you on a date...  
_

His first reaction was anger. He couldn't believe they'd used him to screw with Lucy that way. He'd known Natsu and Gray could be childish at times, but he'd never thought they would be so careless. It was obvious they had embarrassed their team mate, and from the salt he'd smelled on her when she ran out, they'd also made her cry.

The thought of her so upset set his nerves on edge and made him want to beat some sense into her friends. Looking at them though, he couldn't bring himself to do it. The two of them looked completely devastated, their pained expressions showing that they'd realized how badly they'd fucked up. Still, something needed to be done.

Glancing down at the device in his hands, he dropped it to the floor and promptly smashed it with his foot. "You two are idiots."

"We didn't mean to upset her. It was just supposed to be a joke," Gray said, his repentant voice barely sounding above the noise.

Laxus stared at them in disbelief, his head shaking at their ignorance. "What the hell did you think would happen?"

"I...don't know. It was stupid, but we didn't mean for her to cry," Natsu said sadly.

"Of course she was crying," the lightning mage snapped. "You guys embarrassed the hell out of her. You had her so convinced I was screwing with her that she came over here and yelled at me. Now, she's probably feeling bad about it."

Natsu's eyes widened just a bit at Laxus' explanation, then his head rocked side to side. "You don't get it."

"Don't get what?" Laxus scowled at the fire mage, feeling his temper flare at his suggestion.

"Think about what we had you say to her..." Natsu said, waiting for the blonde-haired man to nod shortly before continuing, "Now, why did she say she came over to you?"

Laxus thought for a minute, then said, "She wanted me to say something to her, and she got made that I didn't know what she was talking about. She said she had come over to tell me that..." His words trailed off as he realized what Natsu was trying to show him.

"...that she felt the same way," the pink-haired man finished in a tone soft with shame. "She likes you, and she thought you liked her too because of us."

Laxus was stunned and found himself eyeing the exit of the guild. He couldn't quite believe what he'd just learned, that Lucy was interested in him, but he would be lying if he said the idea didn't thrill him. The truth was that although it hadn't actually been him saying those things to her earlier, the words very well could have been his.

He'd had very similar thoughts about her before, but had never said anything because he hadn't seen any sign that she'd noticed him that way. He was proud like most men, and didn't like going after a girl who had shown no interest in him. Maybe he should have done something, and if she hadn't been a guild member, he might have taken the chance, but he hadn't want it to be awkward between them if things hadn't worked out.

But things were different now. Now, he knew she had feelings for him, and even though he had found out in the worst possible way, he wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. Turning his attention back to the culprits, he lifted a finger and pointed it at them. "I'm going to find her, and when I get back, you two better have an idea of how to make this up to her."

With a glare to go with his warning, he stalked to the front of the guild and pushed through the doors. He came to a stop and closed his eyes, drawing in a lungful of the night air. He sorted through the various scents that had passed through this area, and finding hers, he morphed into his lightning form and sailed off in the direction she'd run.

It took him only moments to find her hunched form sitting on the side of the canal, and with a crackle of sound, he reformed a few yards from her. Her head came up with a snap at his arrival, and he could see the tears tracking down her cheeks. Her hands came up quickly to cover her face, her fingers struggling to wipe away the evidence of her sadness.

"Laxus...w-what are you doing here?"

Laxus frowned at the tremble in her voice and slowly made his way to her side. He hated to see her so distraught. He'd grown used to her sunny disposition, her quick smiles, and her happy laughter. This version didn't suit her at all.

She stared up at him, an expression of confusion on her face as he leaned down and took a seat beside her. "I wanted to check on you."

"I...I'm fine, Laxus. Really..." She turned away, looking off down the road as she brushed a shaky hand against her cheek.

"Yeah, I can see that," he grunted, rolling his eyes at her stubbornness.

At his sarcastic quip, Lucy's head turned, and she leveled him with a look of uncertainty. She studied him for a moment, then shook her head. "Look Laxus, I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I'll t-"

"I'm not," Laxus said, effectively cutting off whatever she'd been about to say. Something told him that it would have been something along the lines of talking to the two morons about involving him in their pranks, and he didn't give a damn about that right now. He just wanted her eyes to lose that look. He wanted to see them spark with that nearly constant mirth she usually had.

Lucy's head tipped to the side, her brow furrowing at his words. "I don't understand."

"Don't get me wrong...I'm plenty pissed that they used my voice to trick you like that, but I'm not sorry it all happened." He gazed down at the little blonde and found her starting back at him with a look of disbelief.

"But...why? They had me so convinced that..." She trailed off, letting her eyes drop to the ground at her feet. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You didn't deserve that."

Laxus snorted at her apology. "You've got nothing to be sorry for, Lucy. I heard what they were using to trick you. There was no way you could have known it wasn't me."

"Yeah there was. I can't believe I fell for that. I should have known better." She shook her head ruefully, her voice morphing into a whisper. "Like that would ever happen for real."

The blonde man frowned at what she'd said. Did she honestly think he'd never noticed her, that he wouldn't relish a chance to sweep her off her feet. He found himself staring down at her, and slowly, as if feeling his steady gaze, she turned to look expectantly at him.

"You're wrong," he said softly.

She blinked owlishly at him. "About what?"

"That it could never happen."

His matter-of-fact statement had her sucking in a sharp breath, and then he reached for her, cupping her face in his hands and pulling her in close. "Laxus?" she asked, her voice whisper-soft and tense.

His mouth hovered over hers for just a moment, giving her time to retreat if that's what she wanted to do. But she stayed there, her eyes trained on his, her breath puffing out lightly over his skin.

Laxus could hear her heart pounding in her chest. He knew he had surprised her, but he was done waiting for his chance. He wanted her in his life, and the longer he dragged his feet, the greater the risk of some other man swooping in and taking her for himself. And now that Laxus knew she was interested in him, he couldn't let her go.

With a sigh of her name, his mouth dropped onto hers. Lucy stilled at his actions, her body freezing in place as his lips ghosted over hers. He plied her with light touches, gentle nips of his teeth, slow strokes of his tongue until Lucy gave a shuddering sigh and sank into him. Her hands inched up his chest, her fingers tangling desperately in the fabric of his shirt.

Laxus released his hold on her face and gathered her to him, settling her gently into his lap. Lucy hummed her approval, pressing herself against the front of him as she angled her head to deepen their kiss. Her hands swept up his body, her feather light touch igniting flames in every spot she touched.

Laxus felt each and every brush of her fingers. It was like his body was on fire, and such a thing stunned him. He'd never had such an immediate reaction to a woman, especially not from a first kiss, but maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. This was Lucy, and she wasn't just some girl to him. She was something special.

Slowly, Lucy eased back, her eyes somewhat glassy and her breath coming out in soft pants as she looked at him in amazement. "W-What..." she stammered, then cleared her throat and tried again, "What does this all mean?"

Laxus gazed at her and couldn't help feeling a flush of excitement that she seemed just as affected by their kiss as he was. He liked that she wasn't immune to his touch. Leaning in, he brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "It means I want to be with you."

Her breathing stuttered as he sucked lightly on her lower lip, then continued, "Everything you heard tonight is true. I do think you're hot. Not just tonight, but always. And I already watch you all the time, because I've always had a thing for you." He brought his hand up and cupped her cheek. "I know we could be great together, Lucy."

Lucy's eyes were shining by the time he finished speaking, and with a swipe of her tongue across her lip, she asked, "Does that mean you want to go on a date with me?"

A laugh burst out of Laxus' mouth at her question, and he nodded. "You're damn right I want to date you. What do you say?"

"I say..." She paused, leaning in until only inches separated them, and smiled. "...yes."

"Good." With a quick grin, Laxus closed the distance and sealed his lips over hers. Finally she was his, and he was determined that it would stay that way. He'd make sure she knew how much she meant to him, and as he pulled her close, he swore he'd do everything in his power to make her happy.

Suddenly a deep voice cut in, "Oh wow...I wasn't expecting that..."

It was followed immediately by another, "Not surprising, you idiot. You couldn't figure it out by the way he left the guild?"

"What the hell did you say, Lizard Breath?!"

With a growl of annoyance, Laxus pulled away from Lucy and tossed a glare at the two bickering males. He couldn't believe they'd not only interrupted his moment with Lucy, but that they'd done so with a damn argument. Even now, the two mages had forgotten all about him and Lucy, and were just about to start throwing punches. What the hell was wrong with them?

"Shut up!" he snapped, tossing a bolt of lightning at the road just in front of them.

At Laxus' shout, Natsu and Gray stopped fighting and turned with matching sheepish expressions. "Sorry..."

"Now, what the hell do you want?" the lightning mage grumped.

Lucy's team members came closer, trying to catch her eye, and then Natsu spoke, "We just wanted to apologize, Luce..."

"Yeah, we're really sorry," Gray added in a contrite voice.

Both seemed thoroughly sincere in their concern for Lucy, and Laxus found he couldn't really fault them for it. They were trying to make things right like he'd told them to. It was just too bad they had to mess up his time with Lucy to do it.

Slowly, Lucy lifted her head from his chest and glanced over at her friends. She studied their faces for several long seconds, and then nodded. "I forgive you."

Upon hearing her acceptance, Natsu and Gray broke out into wide grins. "Thanks Luce! You're the best!" Natsu cheered.

"Wanna come hang out with us at the guild?" Gray asked happily.

Laxus frowned at the ice mage's question. While he was glad they'd worked things out, he wasn't quite ready to relinquish his hold on the gorgeous blonde in his arms. He'd just gotten her, and now the two dimwits that had nearly ruined Lucy's night were about to take her away.

But as he opened his mouth to send them on their way, Lucy spoke up, sending a soft smile his way. "Thanks guys, but I think I'm good right where I am."

"Aww...come on Luce!" Natsu whined, poking his bottom lip out in hopes of changing her mind. "It's more fun with you there!"

Lucy giggled, "Sorry Natsu."

"You sure you won't change your mind?" Gray asked hopefully.

"No, she won't. Now scram," Laxus grunted, waving the two interlopers away as he pulled Lucy in tight to his body. "We've got things to do."

The duo left, pouting at missing out on hanging out with their friend, but they were largely ignored as Lucy leaned in and hummed, "Now where were we?"

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_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed - drop me a line and let me know if you loved it, hated it, whatever. lol Oh, and let me freak out for just a moment about the Fairy Tail anime starting up again! WOOO! OMG, anyone else completely stoked that it's back on? And did I mention the most important part? Did you see Gajeel? So freaking hot! lol**_


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